Walmart

[BigRedBuster]

Can't say I'm heartbroken to read this.

 

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/wal-mart-workers-black-friday-110048819.html

 

Walmart is one company that I absolutely despise. Sam Walton would be very disappointed in how his company is being ran now.

[krc1995]

Can't say I'm heartbroken to read this.

 

http://finance.yahoo...-110048819.html

 

Walmart is one company that I absolutely despise. Sam Walton would be very disappointed in how his company is being ran now.

why do you despise walmart?

[BigRedBuster]

I honestly don't know of a company that treats people such as their suppliers worse.

 

I am usually a very pro business person. However, I don't like how Walmart has done business and what they have done to grow. I know many small towns that used to have a fairly thriving down town and locally owned grocery store...etc only to have Walmart come in, cut prices well below anything a locally owned store can do only to drive those stores out of business then then inch up their prices enough so they are making money again.

 

On top of that, they absolutely treat their suppliers like crap and have driven more companies out of business than ones they have made successful.

 

Now, none of this is illegal and I am not asking for any of it to be made illegal. I just don't like how they do business.

 

On top of all that, they have trained the American consumer to be a drone. When Sam was around, they built their business based on buying American and supporting small town America and the American worker. NOW, I beg you to go in and find anything that is made in America other than food. There was a book written a while back about the Walmart effect. I haven't read it but have read some excerpts of it. It's not a company I respect at all.

[carlfense]

+1

[sd'sker]

+1 brb, and they dominate everything beyond groceries. they threaten hair salons, optometrists, etc. also, they limit choice because you have to shop there if you live in a small town. they do not have to make drastic changes, brb is on the right track of just having more respect for local communities and their suppliers.

[BigRedBuster]

Wow....two threads that sd and I agree in. I need to go see the doctor to see if anything is wrong with me.

[GSG]

If we didn't have Walmart, we wouldn't have http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/ and that's not a world I want to live in

[Moiraine]

Agreed with all of the above. People go there for lower prices but they don't realize some of the hidden costs. For instance, often times cities will pay for the required infrastructure it takes (roads and such) to have a Walmart in town, and that's taxes. Plus, all of the profits go to Arkansas rather than to local people who would put money back into the local environment.

[Conga3]

If you don't like a business because of its practices, vote with your wallet and don't shop there.

 

In the case of Walmart, most the hatred is based on two things :

• Walmart doesn't pay its employees enough
  
• Walmart pushes out less competitive "mom and pop" shops because of it's low prices.
  

The first reason is inherited from the fact Walmart won't let their employees unionize..and ignores the fact that employees "choose" to work for the wages they earn. When a new Walmart opens up, you'll never hear a story about a shortage of employees...because they pay what it takes to run their stores. (See Supply & Demand)

 

Ask ANY employee of any company and you're very likely to get them to say they aren't paid enough. (See Human Nature)

 

The second reason isn't Walmart's fault. They are in business to do business and their model is based on efficiency...same as every successful business. Competition is good for the consumer. Case closed.

[BigRedBuster]

My dislike of Walmart goes way farther than that.

[sd'sker]

Wow....two threads that sd and I agree in. I need to go see the doctor to see if anything is wrong with me.

i know, right? freaky friday i guess.

[Michiganball]

6 heirs to that company are worth more then the bottom 40% of folks in the US. 89 billion bucks, you would think they could afford decent priced healthcare for their starvation wage employees. The only thing that company is good for is China.

[MLB 51]

Hard to blame Walmart for the "Made in America" problem. Most American companies have out sourced their jobs over seas for years. American manufactures care more about making money than quality. Making products cheap, leads to cheaply made products.

 

I still your point though. Walmart and other retailers only help to reinforce the problem.

[Conga3]

The whole Walmart "Made in China" thing is incredibly misunderstood.

 

Walmart is able to buy and sell more American made goods than its competitors because of the efficiency of their operations.

 

It's the smaller stores that can't compete price wise unless they look to China for cheap crap.

[BigRedBuster]

Hard to blame Walmart for the "Made in America" problem. Most American companies have out sourced their jobs over seas for years. American manufactures care more about making money than quality. Making products cheap, leads to cheaply made products.

 

I still your point though. Walmart and other retailers only help to reinforce the problem.

 

I know I am going to be in a minority in this. But, most of the made in china problem is caused by the consumer. The consumer has been influenced by companies like Walmart to believe that lower prices are always good. That forces manufacturers to do what ever it takes to make it cheaper which leads to being made in China.

 

If I am a manufacturer of something and I want to sell it to Walmart and their current supplier is supplying them from China with no regulations and paying workers next to nothing, how am I going to compete while making it in the US? Walmart doesn't care about ANYTHING other than price. Literally that is the case. If you are supplying Walmart and I come in with basically the same product two cents cheaper, they are going to switch and they don't give a crap where it comes from.